Thanksgiving Cruise/Roz’s 6th Birthday – 2021

We have had really good luck in the Pandemic years with cruising. We were on a Caribbean cruise when the Pandemic broke out. We missed out on a couple of islands that wouldn’t accept us, but everyone on the ship was healthy and well. We were one of the last ships allowed to dock back in Florida. We booked another cruise but it was cancelled. Holland America, our cruise line of choice, made us an offer we couldn’t refuse, a free cruise to Mexico. We had been to the Mexican ports before but we really do just love cruising. We took COVID tests prior to embarking and we were negative. While on this cruise the Omicron varient became known. We managed to escape that too primarily because we were in our ship bubble. What we were concerned about though were the places in Mexico that we were visiting, but they were very clean and took many precautions to keep tourists and their citizens safe.

Our ship left out of San Diego and we were lucky enough to spend the night at our niece and nephews house the night before. It had been awhile since we’d seen them and we had a fantastic time, full of belly laughs.

So off to sea we go. Our first stop Cabo San Lucas. 2 sea days and a cooking demonstration called Port to Table which we love. I took notes and I will share them with you along with a couple of pictures.

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Port to Table: From my Notes

Tortilla Soup

Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add cumin, tomato, chicken broth and salt. Add Fried Corn Tortilla Strips. Blend in Ancho chili, and chipotle. Garnish with diced tomato, chicken strips, tortilla chips, avocado, olive oil and cilantro oil blended. Strain through a coffee filter.

Carne Asada

Marinate Flank or Skirt Steak. Marinate with garlic powder, garlic and cumin. Saute meat, add beans, rice, cumin. Cook until evaporated. Add salsa, pico de gallo and cilantro. Cook meat to rare. Put the beans in a timbal. Assemble with the carne asada on top. Place guacamole, sour cream on the side, pico de gallo on the top. A jalapeno on the side and cilantro leaves on top. Place a folded tortilla on the side of the plate.

Chili Relleno

Stuff a Poblano pepper with Monterey Jack Cheese. Stuff with chili, onion, garlic, cumin, minced beef or pork. Cook Rice with tomatoes and roast the pepper for 5 minutes at 120 C. Stuff. Dip in Tempura Batter. Heat oil to fry. Fry the peppers. Serve with Rice, Cilantro, Red and Green Pepper, shaved manchego cheese and chilantro.

Cabo San Lucas

Cabo is one of our favorite destinations, in fact we spent Jon’s 50th birthday there in a rented villa with friends. We love to go to Maro’s Shrimp House. This trip we were the first ones there and for November it was pretty warm and humid. We got our usual “Bull Dog” drink which is a margarita with a bottle of Cornoa upside down in the glass. We ordered the Shrimp plate and the Shrimp and Lobster plate. OH YUM!

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Mazatlan

The folks of Mazatlan have made it very easy for tourists to get around. There is a blue line from the port into downtown, the market, and the beautiful church there. Follow the blue line! We were interested, after our blue line walk, to go somewhere different in Mazatlan this trip. We had heard of an island that had beautiful beaches and beach side restaurants called Stone Island. So we got on a small motor boat that took us to that island.

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Puerto Vallarta

One of our favorite Mexican cities is Puerto Vallarta. We went there early on in our marriage and we’ve taken the kids there when they were teenagers. Our favorite restaurant is La Chata which is on the Malacon overlooking the bay. This trip was on Thanksgiving day, 2021. We would usually order a big fabulous Mexican lunch but Jon was feeling crappy and hardly ate anything. We watched some daredevils do some stunts from our balcony and then went back to the ship. Jon slept for 4 hours in our room and I read by the pool. That evening I ordered the Turkey so I actually did get it on Thanksgiving. Our waiters in the Dining Room were great. They were both named Denny, so we said we ate at Denny’s every night. Here are some pictures of Puerto Vallarta, ship life and “The Denny’s”.

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So, our cruise being done…..sad…..we went back to our niece and nephews house…..happy. We spent the night and played with the dogs and got to see our Great Nephew and his wife. We also spent the afternoon in their pool and BBQed. Remember it was San Diego. Beautiful weather.

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Rozzy is SIX! Hard to believe our little Granddaughter is six years old. After our Mexican Cruise we took a COVID test to make sure we were still negative and we were, so off to Los Angeles to be a part of Roz’s birthday celebration. Her Paternal Grandmother also joined us, Gloria from Florida. In Korean, the word for Grandmother is Hominy and that is what Roz calls her. Roz is now playing soccer, taking drum lessons, and Hip Hop. For her birthday we bought her a drum set……mother approved of course. We love you baby Girl. Here are some fun moments from her 6th birthday.

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So that was our November trip and boy was it good to get away. It had a little bit of everything……Travel, Food, Family and making new memories. So long 2021………